The Gift of Love
by Girlbender875
Summary: When Luke and Leia, seven-year-old twins, have the same nightmares, they talk to their father. Their conversation sparks an idea for a holiday they read about. Oneshot.


**This story is for by ILDV, a great reviewer! Enjoy everyone!**

**Title: **The Gift of Love

**Summary:** When Luke and Leia, seven-year-old twins, have the same nightmares, they turn to their father for help, only to find out that their father is the one who needs help. Oneshot.

**Rating:** K+

**Disclaimer: I do not own SW or any of its characters. They all belong to George Lucas. I'm just playing in his playground.

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Darth Vader impatiently went through his stack of data pads to find what he needed for the briefing the next morning. As he sifted through the pile, he sensed someone approaching. Suppressing a sigh, he shoved all the data pads aside and turned around to see two small figures standing in the doorway.

"Daddy?"

Vader walked towards his twin children. "I thought you two were in bed,"

"We were but we had a nightmare," his daughter, Leia, answered softly.

"You both had a nightmare?" Vader repeated skeptically.

Luke, the elder of the two, nodded fervently. "Yes, Daddy… we both had a bad dream about a pretty lady."

"A pretty lady? How is that a bad dream?"

"Because she was sad," Leia responded. "And she was crying,"

"She said that she loved you, Daddy," Luke added.

If it weren't for his respirator, Vader's breathing would have stopped. How—why were they dreaming about Padmé? He hadn't mentioned their mother too often, and when the subject had been brought up, it was only touched upon and always ended abruptly.

"Daddy, who's the lady?" the twins asked together.

Darth Vader looked at his children before turning away for a moment. "She… you saw your mother,"

"We saw _Mommy_?" Leia said in a surprised tone.

Vader faced the two once again. "Yes, you did. Now you'd best be heading back to bed."

"But Daddy, why was she sad?"

"She probably misses you," Vader said, trying to avoid the _real_ reason.

"I miss Mommy…" Leia mumbled.

"I miss her too," Luke lowered his head sadly.

What was he to do? Sighing, Vader kneeled down (though it hurt to do so) to his younglings' height. "I know you miss her, but… you may not be able to see her, but she's always with you. She will always be a part of you."

"What about you, Daddy?" Luke asked.

"I'm a part of you, too,"

"But is she a part of _you_, Daddy?"

"Go to bed," Vader suddenly said, biting back anger in his tone.

The twins looked at each other before leaving. Vader sighed once again and looked disdainfully at the desk upon which the data pads laid before returning to work. He pushed all other thoughts out of his mind.

The next day, Vader exited the briefing room with a million things on his mind. There was an uprising on Naboo that had to be dealt with… but why _Naboo_ of all the _blasted_ planets in the _blasted_ galaxy?! Particularly after what the twins had been talking about last night…

Shaking his head, Darth Vader entered the bridge and ordered the admiral to set a course for Naboo.

Suddenly, the door to the bridge opened and the pitter-patter of small feet upon metal was heard behind him. Vader turned to see Luke and Leia running towards him, looking excited.

"Daddy Vader, look at what we drew!" the seven-year-olds said, using their own butchering form of Vader's title.

He could sense the other Imperials doing their best to pretend they weren't watching or snickering.

Vader calmly led the children off the bridge and into a private corridor where no one else was around. "Haven't I told you to stay off the bridge?"

"Yes, Daddy, but—"

"No _buts_," Vader interrupted. The twins looked down at the ground. The expressions on their faces made the suited man's heart melt.

"All right, all right, what did you want to show me?" he asked.

The two immediately grew excited. "We drew Mommy for you! That way you can always have her with you just like she's always with us!"

Vader looked at his children, dumbfounded and speechless. He stared at them for a moment before gently pulling them into a hug. "Thank you,"

Leia proudly gave him the drawing of Padmé, which, for a seven-year-old, was fairly accurate… although Vader didn't recall Padmé having no feet or hands and having the figure of a twig.

Vader smiled and stuffed the paper away in a pouch on his belt. "I'll always keep her with me. I promise."

Three days later, Vader was awakened by the sound of his door opening. He turned his head to see Luke and Leia standing in the doorway, crying.

Vader immediately shot to his feet and was in front of his children in an instant. "What's wrong?"

"Daddy, w-we had a bad dream," Luke hiccupped.

"Another bad dream?"

Leia nodded before both of the twins gripped Vader's cloak fiercely.

Vader sighed. "What was it about this time?"

"A man," Luke answered. "He was c-crying and was really sad-d…"

"H-he misses you, Daddy," Leia continued for her brother. "He keeps saying A-Anakin…"

Vader's heart skipped a beat. A part of him grew furious that they would be dreaming about Obi-Wan… and yet another part of him was hopeful that Obi-Wan still cared.

"Did he say anything about Anakin?" Vader asked them.

"He s-said he's sorry," Luke and Leia replied before they burst into hysterics.

Vader comforted his children while his mind was elsewhere. He began thinking about Obi-Wan and how they had parted, uh, _very_ badly on Mustafar. Eventually, the twins pulled away from the hug and looked up at Vader.

"What… what did he say he was sorry for?" Vader asked hesitantly.

"I d-don't know…" Luke shook his head. Leia did similar.

Vader held his frustration at bay and told the two to go back to sleep.

"But what if he comes back?" Luke replied worriedly.

"Who is he, Daddy?" Leia asked.

Pausing, Vader realized that he didn't know what to do. Could he tell the twins about Obi-Wan, a traitorous Jedi who scarred their father for life? No, he couldn't say _that_… but what could he say? "He… he was a—a friend. A brother… a father…"

"He was _your_ daddy?"

"No—well, he—"

"Wow!" the twins shouted together, their jaws dropped and their eyes wide. "But Daddy, why was he sad?"

"I haven't seen him in a long time," was all Vader could say in reply.

The three stood in silence before Vader told Luke and Leia to go back to bed, which the two did solemnly.

Next morning, Vader stood on the bridge looking at Naboo from the view screen. Upon receiving Vader's permission, the admiral sent a squadron down to the surface to investigate.

Wishing to rid his mind of the thoughts of his late wife, Vader left the bridge and walked to his children's quarters. Perhaps he could spend some time with them. However, when he opened the door, the room was abandoned.

Immediately going into the Force, Vader searched for the twins high and low. They were nowhere on the _Executor_. Instead, he sensed them on the shuttle that had gone down to the planet.

Vader practically flew down to the hangar bay and got into his personalized TIE fighter. He piloted it down to the capital's hangar attached to the royal palace. Attendants and Imperial officers immediately arrived to help him, though he could sense that they were very confused as to why he was there. He dismissed them and exited the hangar.

Theed was beautiful this time of year. It was winter on Naboo, and a snowstorm had just gone through the city. Snow blanketed everything, giving it a pleasant atmosphere. The snow glistened in the sunlight, dazzling the eye. However, there was still no sign of Luke or Leia.

Growing worried, Vader stretched his senses once again. He sensed the children just outside of the city. Vader immediately set out to find them and retrieve them. On his way, he passed numerous people, most of which avoided him. A few times he would catch snippets of conversation. One child even waved to him and wished him a merry Christmas, whatever that was.

Finally, Vader reached the edge of the city. Luke and Leia were nowhere to be seen, but through the Force they were close by. He didn't have to wait very long before sensing them coming.

"Daddy, come here!" he heard to his left.

Turning, Vader walked towards the sound. Internally, he was battling between whether he should feel angry at them or relieved that they were alright. He chose to be lovingly stern as a compromise.

All these thoughts vanished from his mind when he saw where Luke and Leia were standing.

"See, Daddy?" Leia said excitedly. "Look who it is!"

"How—you—where—" Darth Vader couldn't say anything. He just kept stuttering and stammering until his children began talking once again.

"We were reading about Naboo yesterday because of what you said about Mommy," Luke began.

"And then we read about something that lots of people across the galaxy celebrate," Leia continued. "Theed celebrates it all across the city!"

"It's called Christmas," Luke went on. "They say it's to celebrate the birth of a Savior. They say that He brought hope to the whole _galaxy_!"

"It also started saying that a tradition of gift-giving happened during this time. The book said that lots of people bought things to show that they cared."

"But we didn't think that buying something once a year would show we cared. We thought that Christmas meant something more."

"We thought it meant really being happy no matter what you want or have. We thought it meant being together as a family and celebrating a new hope."

"So we decided to find _Mommy_, who we saw in our dreams was here…"

"And we wanted to celebrate Christmas together as a family!" they finished together.

Luke and Leia were both holding Padmé's favorite flower, millaflowers. They were small and delicate, some in a pink shade while others were baby blue. Both held blue flowers, Padmé's favorite type. They stood around a plaque that held a holographic image of Padmé. It was her grave. The twins placed the flowers on the grave.

"Merry Christmas, Daddy!" Luke and Leia shouted before dragging Vader into a big hug.

_Fin

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**Merry Christmas, everyone.**


End file.
